Family Problems
by Lessiehanamoray
Summary: The time has come. When one of Entreri's relatives jumps back into his life, chaos breaks loose. Entreri's life is about to change once more.
1. Scream and Dream

Disclaimer: The recognizable characters in this story are not mine, they belong to R.A. Salvatore and Wizards of the Coast.

Author's Note: When talking about Entreri in a character's point of view I try to decide if that character would think of him as Artemis or Entreri. I would also like to say that this story is about a month after my story Moonwood. You will understand a lot of what I talk about better if you read "The Third Level", "That Curious Sword", and "Empty Joys" by Salvatore as well as "Moonwood" by me..

Summary of what's happened: Entreri gets the strange urge to head to the Moonwood. This is where Jarlaxle discovers the man knew a friend of his. The companions are led to the Moonwood by a black panther who gives them two horses. When the two companions go to the elven village they meet Callahan. This is a few tendays after that.

1

Sahide watched the sleeping form of Entreri, and Jarlaxle watched Sahide. The mutual staring had been going on for quite some time now. The drow held no trust for the black panther.

Sahide didn't care. The panther watched every intake and outtake of Artemis's breath. If it were to become disturbingly slow or fast he would try to wake Artemis or try to heal any injuries. Occasionally, he would feel Artemis's pulse to make sure it was at a normal speed. Sahide never took his eyes off of Artemis.

Jarlaxle watched the panther with obvious distrust. Long ago, Aramil had told him of Sahide, and therefore the amount of attention the assassin-panther was paying to Artemis was disturbing. It was like this every night.

"Aramil," Jarlaxle whispered under his breath. Just uttering the elf's name made his mind jump down several paths. One was the fact that Entreri clearly had known the elf. Jarlaxle hadn't pressed the issue because he didn't want Artemis to know about his own relationship with Aramil. Another path was of that relationship. Aramil had been the only elf to walk into a drow city and walk out. The final path was a simple question: what had happened to Aramil? Looking at Entreri, Jarlaxle realized that the human might know.

11

A man looked at the half-elf who lay on the floor in front of him. His eyes glowing red.

A whip made entirely of fire appeared in his hand. He whipped the half-elf again and again.

A scream rang through the air of Memnon.

111

Hundreds of miles away, that same scream was uttered by Artemis Entreri as well. He didn't even realize he was screaming until he saw Jarlaxle and Sahide beside him. Callahan had awoken as well.

For the first time in decades, Artemis Entreri blushed.

"Are you okay?" Jarlaxle asked. Sahide just looked at him.

"Yeah," Entreri said. He didn't sound like he believed it.

1111

Across Faerun, in two vastly different directions, two other people sensed the scream also.

Nova Von Houchie jolted awake. Her heart was beating faster than normal. She wasn't sure from who or why, but she had just felt quite a bit of fear, anger, and embarrassment. As she lay back in bed, she began to wonder if, all those years ago, Aramil indeed had completed his task.

Elsewhere, another person jolted awake. He smiled, his dark gray eyes shining in joy. That was the signal from Shar that it was time for him to begin the Freeing. Of course, he wasn't going to use his life-force and blood.

Smiling, Ali Entreri went to prepare.

Author's Note: Houchie is pronounced Who-shay. (I don't do pronunciations, but you should understand it from that.) Also, Ali is an Arabic name that, if I remember correctly, means Little God, the Highest


	2. The Hounds

Nova sat watching the sunrise. Well, watching wasn't the right word. The woman sat in meditation. She needed to know what was going on.

"Nova," a soft and melodious voice called from behind her.

Nova sighed and turned around to face Wraith. The drow had all of her adventuring equipment on. Also, behind Wraith—and about 3 feet taller—was Nightwing, and it too was prepared for travel. It, for indeed Nightwing was an it: about eight feet tall, pitch black, and gaunt with a tail and no facial features. If you didn't know better you would call Nightwing a demon or devil. Of course, you would only say that once, it was one of Nightwing's pet peeves.

Nova smiled and got up. Her two companions had probably felt something as well, even if it wasn't as strong.

"What are we waiting for?" As usual Nova was excited. They were actually going to travel to Mithiral Hall. It wasn't often that The Circle just chose a location and went.

Wraith smiled and the group started heading out of Shadowdale.

22

It was Callahan's turn to cook. Jarlaxle always looked forward to when the young elf cooked since he was better than Entreri, and the drow was worse than Entreri.

However, there was no conversation, no laughter; not even Callahan was talking—and that was fairly rare.

Everyone was thinking about the same thing. What had happened last night?

To Callahan it was scarier than anything else. Entreri was his mentor. The young elf didn't want to think about what could scare his master.

Jarlaxle's main thought was what had caused it to happen. The drow wasn't even convinced that Entreri normally dreamed. The sudden nightmare should be taken seriously.

Entreri knew what he had seen, but he didn't want to think about it. Every time the assassin thought about it he couldn't bear the image of Master Cedril being whipped by…NO! He refused to think about it. He had promised himself never to let his mind travel down that road again.

222

"You are my elite, you are my hounds," Ali Entreri said to the group gathered before him. "You are four of the most powerful people in Memnon."

The High Lord turned to a woman with long black hair, black eyes, and dark skin.

"Sabra, you are one of the most powerful clerics of Shar here. That is to be your role. Not only are you a cleric, you are among the highest ranks of our deity: you are a Nightcloak." The High Lord handed her a cloak. "You were capable of hiding in the shadows, now you are even better."

Ali turned to the next person in line. He was a lightly built man with black hair and dusky skin.

"Qadmah, you are possibly the best monk to our Lady in Calimshan. I expect you to do your job well." He handed the monk a pair of gloves. "Strength is useful even to warriors who do not depend on it."

Entreri turned to the next person in line. She was built similarly to the other two with light gray eyes.

By now he had given his speech. He handed her a scroll case. "May your spells strike your enemies down."

Ali then turned to the last man in line. "Brother, I must ask that you accompany them. You will play the role of hound and thief." He handed the small man a dagger. "Strike true," he said in the language of the Efreet.

"I want Artemis brought back alive," Ali told the group. "Only my brother may touch Artemis for matters outside of combat. You may kill anyone else. Oh, I would appreciate it if the Brat was the same race he currently is."

The group nodded.

"Then go Hounds. I will transport you where they were last found. May your hunt be swift."

A cheer rose and a horn sounded. The hunt was about to begin.

The Hound's didn't even notice the shadow of a cat that moved. Sahide had to tell Artemis.

2222

Sahide quickly transported back to Artemis. He had to find a way to warn him without letting him know about the teleporting ability.

Sahide had to ensure his many-times great-grandson would survive this.

22222

For the first time Callahan burnt the food. It was evidence that he was really bothered by what had happened the night before.

"Not your best Callahan," Jarlaxle noted, looking at the burnt lump in front of him.

"It's better than what you make," Entreri said quietly.

Jarlaxle looked at him. The man sounded scared. Just then Sahide arrived in the camp.

"Where have you been?" Jarlaxle asked accusingly. Sahide just looked at the drow and walked over to Artemis. Jarlaxle was fuming inside, but he didn't want Entreri to know how much he mistrusted the cat.

"I need to talk to you," Sahide said to Entreri.

222222

Mask wanted to listen to their conversation, but the Hounds needed to be watched. Just as it was about to peer over in their direction the mask tightened; now the deity couldn't see.

Grumbling, the deity pulled the mask off. Her form changed, and her long, straight, red hair flowed down her back. She looked at the thing and cursed. If it weren't the only reason she was a deity she'd have gotten rid of it years ago.

Sighing, she watched the Hounds. If Memnon was freed, it was all over.

Author's Note: I know some peope might argue about my view of Mask, but face it, that's just a plot waiting to be exploited.


	3. A Sea of Blood

"What is it?" Artemis Entreri asked once he and Sahide were out of hearing range.

"Where are you headed?"

"Whatever direction profit…"

Entreri was cut off as Sahide roared. "Do not go just where profit leads," he warned. "Head north and east of the Moonwood I don't care if you go into the mountains.

With that he just left.

33

Jarlaxle watched the trees where Entreri had gone with Sahide. If that cat hurt him…Why did he feel like that?

Jarlaxle thought about it for a moment and realized that he was being protective. But the man could take care of himself. In fact, he had even saved Jarlaxle.

Inevitably, thinking about Entreri made Jarlaxle think of Aramil. The drow had to know what had happened.

As Entreri came back to the group, Jarlaxle promised himself he'd ask. He needed to know what had befallen his second-closest friend.

333

The first part of the day passed uneventfully for the group. When they settled down for lunch Jarlaxle asked if he could talk to Entreri alone. The man nodded and the two went off into the trees.

When the two were out of earshot Jarlaxle asked, "How do you know Aramil?"

Entreri was truly stunned by the question. "Why do you care?"

"Please," Jarlaxle said desperately, "he was one of my few friends."

If Entreri hadn't known better he would have believed the drow had spoken the truth. "You want me to talk so you'll gain the upper hand," he said sternly, then walked off.

Jarlaxle stared after Entreri and realized the man was at some level right. The drow needed to know, but it would also give him an upper hand if he got the answers to his questions. All Jarlaxle could—or would—hope was that it never became an issue.

_Flashback _

"How's it going with the apprentice?" Jarlaxle asked.

Jarlaxle was addressing a young surface elf—an elfmany years younger than he—by the name of Aramil Galaedon.

The elf smiled. "He's doing just fine. Although, he's as emotionally unstable as ever."

"You said he was amazing in his ability to control his emotions," Jarlaxle reminded the elf.

"You can hide your emotions, you cannot control them. They are there; you can just pretend they are not."

Jarlaxle nodded. "What's his name anyway?"

"Moon," Aramil answered. Then, he looked Jarlaxle straight in the eye. "If you want to know more ask Nova."

End Flashback

Jarlaxle sighed. Then he realized exactly what the connection was.

When the drow had first met Entreri, the man had answered that his name was Moon. Jarlaxle had indeed asked Nova before, and he knew that one of the many names that meant that was Artemis.

Artemis Entreri was that apprentice.

3333

Gareth Entreri watched the young elf eat his lunch. This had been an easy hunt, at least if this was--

There he was.

Gareth snarled. There was that wretched nephew of his. The one he and his brother had nicknamed "the Brat".

Then, Gareth unexpectedly smiled as Jarlaxle walked into the camp. Gareth would lead the Hounds on the right trail, it would be easy to track with Jarlaxle of Bregan De'arthe (sorry if misspelled) traveling with them, but Gareth did not want the Hound's to find the group. Not until Artemis had suffered.

Quietly, he withdrew and contacted Ali.

33333

The rest of the day passed peacefully for the group.

Finally, they found a place to set up camp. Nothing happened until midnight.

It was Jarlaxle's watch, and as usual he spent more time watching Sahide than the surrounding forest. Then, he saw Sahide begin to look very worried.

_He was in a sea of blood. It was his blood, his father's blood, his uncle's blood, the cleric's blood, and the prisoners' blood. He was drowning in blood!_

Artemis Entreri jolted awake, gasping for breath.

Sahide and Jarlaxle were both leaning over him, and they were both very anxious.

"Just a bad dream," he said quietly. He didn't want Callahan to know about this night's event and so didn't dare speak any louder.

Jarlaxle and Sahide nodded and moved to opposite sides of the camp.

Entreri sighed and threw an arm across his eyes. Just a dream, he reminded himself. Or was it? Something in the back of his mind told him otherwise.

A hidden memory perhaps. His father was certainly powerful enough. "Father," he muttered under his breath. Slowly, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Jarlaxle and Sahide had both heard Entreri's word.

To Sahide it meant things were worse than he had originally thought. He didn't want Artemis to have to endure this before the Hounds even caught up to them. He wouldn't be able to defend himself.

To Jarlaxle it was another clue. Whatever was going on tied into that. Jarlaxle sighed and shook his head. Things had definitely twisted, he thought. Now, it was Entreri's turn to get them into trouble.


	4. Memnon

Sabra watched Gareth suspiciously. He was just a little too happy.

"You seem excited," she said coldly as he went to gather firewood.

"We are close to our prey," the wererat responded.

"How close?"

Gareth looked at her. He knew his excitement was obvious. He had, after all, gone to hybrid form. "I can smell them."

Just then Qadmah came rushing into camp. "We've found them!" he cried.

The Hounds gathered their equipment and sounded the horn.

44

Callahan and Entreri were jolted awake by a horn sounding over the trees.

"What was that?" Jarlaxle asked.

Then, the drow looked at Entreri and realized he was packing up his bedroll.

"Why are you packing?" he asked.

"Get your stuff together. Be quick. If they catch us we're dead."

Callahan and Jarlaxle looked at each other for only an instant before they started packing. Artemis Entreri had been terrified.

444

Ali watched carefully through his scrying pool. The Hounds would lead them right into his trap.

The High Priest licked his lips in anticipation. He would beat Artemis to unconsciousness, and when he came to, Ali would kill his friends.

It was such a delightful torture. Ali grinned, and then laughed. He was looking forward to this.

4444

The fear was intense. Nova realized her heart was beating faster than normal. It wasn't just the upcoming fight with the orcs. She had fought plenty of orcs before. It was more.

A fireball erupted. Nova sighed and launched into the fray. No time to think about that now.

44444

The horn sounded again.

"We have to go!" Entreri cried. If it hadn't been for the terror in his voice before, they wouldn't have been ready by now. However, at his prompting, they started running.

The forest was thick, and there was no way horses would've worked for this. It was a battle of running speed.

Entreri ran into something. There was nothing there—he just stopped. A shimmering field surrounded the group, and a cool mist descended. Callahan was down in an instant, asleep. Jarlaxle and Entreri looked at each other, then they too fell asleep. The moment Entreri fell down the mist left and the field disappeared.

Sahide ran to the brush, and watched as the smiling form of Ali Entreri picked them up. Of course the man would want to do it with his own power. The Hounds had just made things more predictable. The moment Ali left, Sahide left. He needed to find help.

_This was the fight in which they would finally die. A young Jarlaxle threw his daggers as fast as he could, but there were too many. He and his grandfather would be slaves._

_At the thought of his grandfather, the young drow looked that way—just in time to see the sword pierce his heart. Then, he felt something cold on his neck. One of the drow looked at him with a cool smile._

He woke up. Jarlaxle rarely slept, and so the occurrence of a dream seemed strange to him. That wasn't the only strange thing, though.

Jarlaxle had never seen this room before. It was a large room, covered in dust except for where footprints marked the passing of whoever had brought them in. The perceptive drow noticed that there was only a pair going out. The room was also well furnished. There was a desk and a chair in one corner, a wardrobe in another, and the bed sat at the back wall with a small table beside it. Entreri was on the bed while Callahan was on the floor beside Jarlaxle.

_The woman barely breathed. She was so ill, and he couldn't do anything._

_Artemis Entreri stared at Jori, the only woman he loved. The only woman he would probably ever love._

_The only way to cure her was to kill the person who had caused the illness. He had gone to Memnon, he had tried. She would die._

_"Artemis," she said quietly. He looked at her. Her eyes showed so much pain!_

_"Yes," he said comfortingly. She smiled._

_"The cleric said that our child will survive." She looked at her swollen stomach. "She'll be born soon. Will you take care of her?"_

_Artemis looked at Jori. "She will be taken care of," he said shakily. "Even if it is not by me, she will be taken care of."_

_Jori nodded and screamed. It was time for another member of the family._

Artemis Entreri awoke with a shock. Tears streamed down his face. Jarlaxle was beside him in a second.

Entreri looked at Jarlaxle, clearing away the tears. He then looked at his surroundings. He knew this place. Slowly, Entreri walked over the window and brushed the dust off. When Entreri turned to Jarlaxle, his face was chalk-white.

"Do you know where we are?" Jarlaxle asked.

The man nodded, slowly. "We're in Memnon," he said quietly. He looked out the window again and just stood there.

Jarlaxle looked at him, and then thought about where Memnon was. Several unpleasant thoughts came to him at once. They did not want to be there.

Author's Note: I would like to thank ClubbingBabySeals for the general concept of Jori.


	5. Shar

The stranger saw Avariel has she came down. He had hoped not to encounter her so quickly. She was the oldest thief in the Citadel and probably remembered him. Still, she was at some level the most likely to help.

"Avariel," he said bowing low.

"That's Thief Lord Avariel to you," the elf replied harshly.

"Thief Lord now! You have done well." The man sounded truly impressed.

"What do you want, Artemis?" she asked angrily.

"I have a bit of news you might find interesting," he said slyly. Despite herself, Avariel was almost glad to see the cleverness in his eyes. Shortly afterhis binding thathad disappeared, and Avariel found it a waste of intelligence when he was already bound to loyalty.

"Oh?" she said, begging him to go on.

Artemis nodded. "We need to go somewhere where no one will hear us. I only want you, the High Priest, and Nova to hear what I am going to say."

"Nova isn't here, but come with me." Avariel knew this was dumb, but if his news was important she wanted to hear it.

55

_Orcs were swarming his village. Callahan tried to charge out and help fight them off, but he couldn't move. _

As he watched his whole village fell to dust. A woman in black and purple approached him, smiling sweetly. Callahan screamed.

Like Entreri and Jarlaxle, Callahan also woke up with a start, only he screamed as well.

Entreri and Jarlaxle spun around. Callahan looked at them, then at his surroundings. He stood up shakily.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"Look around," Jarlaxle replied. "Let's see if there's anything useful in here." Without even waiting for consent, Jarlaxle went to the bedside table and opened the drawer. It was filled with drawings. Slowly, Jarlaxle picked them up and looked through them.

There were several pictures of what this person thought various gods looked like. There were also pictures of people and cats. Whoever had drawn these liked cats. Then he stopped. His hands were trembling as he looked at a picture of a face of a lavender-eyed drow reflected in a scimitar. It was Drizzt. There was no question.

"I wonder who used this room?" he asked. It was aimed at no one in particular, but that was when the door opened.

555

Avariel led Sahide down the winding halls of the Citadel. It was a long walk and involved going up several flights of stairs, but they made it.

The two were standing in front of the door to the High Priest's private chambers. It was unremarkable except for the symbol of Mask carved into it. The elf glanced at Sahide, and then gave two quick knocks on the door.

Sahide spent about two hours explaining things. The High Priest was very specific about the details. After that time the three just sat in the room, silent.

"So Aramil defied our Lady," the High Priest said finally.

Sahide shook his head. "She could've stopped it if She didn't want it to happen."

Avariel and the High Priest nodded.

"We must save him from his fate and bring him here then," Avariel finally said.

"He will have to challenge Varen," the High Priest reminded them.

"So be it," Sahide said calmly. "If you would help me with the rescue mission, m'lady?"

The elf and the High Priest nodded. One thought kept crossing both of their minds: this might be the most important thing they would ever do.

5555

Ali looked at Artemis, and Artemis looked at Ali. It had been so many years!

Indeed, Ali looked just like Artemis except that his hair was thinner and he was about two inches taller. He also wore the black and purple robes of Shar.

"It is a pleasure to see you again," he said. Ali's face and voice were calmed, composed, and powerful, showing no hint of emotion.

Jarlaxle blinked in surprise. He had never seen this man, and Callahan certainty hadn't.

"What do you want?" Artemis asked sharply.

"Nothing much—just somebody else to carry on the bloodline so I can kill you."

Artemis was working hard to control his temper. He did indeed know what this man wanted, and, as usual, it wasn't what he wanted.

"Besides," said the man as he approached Artemis, "this could be fun."

With that, he grabbed Artemis. Artemis responded by kicking him and spitting in his face. Ali backed off in surprise.

"As defiant as ever," he snarled and stormed out.

"What just happened?" asked a very bewildered Callahan. Entreri just looked at him, then at the door.

"You don't want to know," he said quietly.

Jarlaxle closed his eyes and thought for a minute. He did not like how this was piecing together, but knew better to confront the man. He opened his eyes again, and prayed he was wrong.


	6. Escape

"_Why are we waiting in a torture chamber?"_ Avariel signed to Sahide. The man had taken his cat form and insisted on being called Sahide.

_"He'll bring them down here eventually," _the cat replied.

Avariel just shook her head helplessly and waited.

66

"How do we get out of here?" Callahan asked.

Entreri and Jarlaxle looked at him and shrugged.

"A good night's rest will clear our minds," Entreri reminded his companions.

Jarlaxle and Callahan nodded. Callahan and Jarlaxle went to the bed, and Entreri lay on the floor.  
When he was sure that his companions were asleep, Entreri got up and looked out the window. Obviously, locks had been installed, but where? Was it a spell that held the window closed?

"Artemis? Is that you?" a female voice asked from the doorway.

Entreri spun around; he had been so deep in thought he hadn't even noticed the slave who had come in with some water.

"Melany?" he asked quietly.

"It is you, isn't it?"

Entreri could only nod. She smiled and jumped into his arms.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she cried out excitedly. Entreri quickly silenced her.

"I don't want you to wake up my companions," he said quietly.

Melany nodded and explained everything to him.

Jarlaxle had indeed woken up to Melany's joyous scream and listened in.

According to her the only time they could get out was when the High Lord brought them to the torture chambers. She couldn't bring them out because a good 50 guards had accompanied her; the High Lord wasn't taking any chances.

Then, she left. Jarlaxle forced his breathing to steady and fell back to sleep.

When he woke up in the morning he was glad to see that Entreri was asleep. By the sounds of it they would all need to be well-rested.

666

Ali sat in his private chambers wondering how to approach the situation. It was morning; did he want to wait for the evening? No, he decided. He did not want Artemis to get time to reunite with old friends. He knew that most of the people in the palace were against him.

Sighing, Ali Entreri went to collect his prisoners, his thoughts focused on the most important of them: his son.

6666

Jarlaxle, Callahan, and Artemis turned as the door opened, then discovered they couldn't move any further.

Ali walked up to them and allowed two burly guards to enter the room. They grabbed Callahan and Jarlaxle. Ali decided to carry Artemis himself.

66666

They were coming. Sahide and Avariel could feel it. The two companions had positioned themselves at the corridor that led to the torture chamber. Sure enough Ali came with two burly guards behind him. Sahide looked at Avariel and then pounced.

Ali shouldn't have stood a chance against Sahide, but the great cat bounced off of a spell shield! (It was embarrassing, too.) Sahide rolled on his back and shook his head to try and clear it.

One of the guards fell to the floor. Ali turned around, only to see Avariel standing there, longsword in hand. The second guard grabbed his saber, dropping Callahan, and swiped it towards her mid-section. The elf, however, rolled to the side, causing him to miss.

Sahide had finally cleared his head, just in time to notice Ali finish a spell. The holding spell vanished, and a creature appeared. It looked like a massive, roughly humanoid toad with arms in place of forelegs. Its wide mouth had rows of blunt teeth, and long spines ran down the length of its back. It was about seven feet tall. It was standing right in front of Sahide. In his terror, the great cat jumped along the walls and accidentally opened a secret compartment. All of their equipment was in it—everything except Artemis's gauntlet.

Avariel, Jarlaxle, Callahan, and the guard all began to gag. That thing smelled appalling. Artemis, Ali, and Sahide were able to ignore the smell.

Sahide grabbed Charon's Claw in his mouth, mentally telling the sword that if it didn't cooperate a Sharite would have it, and ran to Artemis. A blast of fire shot from Ali's hand, but Sahide easily dodged. Sahide wasn't so lucky with the Hezrou, the creature Ali had summoned. An explosion of leaping energy came from the Hezrou and hit Sahide hard. The cat fell to the ground. The last thing he did before he went unconscious was make sure that he rolled Charon's Claw to Artemis.

Artemis quickly picked the sword up; it didn't even try to take him over. Jarlaxle and the others finished gagging just in time to realize this; they also realized that they had hit the bottom of the hole and were digging, fast. They had to run.

Artemis knew that too, but they needed something to cover their backs. Anger is fire. Gather up all your anger, Artemis thought, and he willed a wall of fire between the Hezrou, his father, and everyone else. His power was nothing compared to Ali's though, and the firewall wouldn't last long. Quickly, Artemis rushed over and picked up Sahide.

None of them looked back. None of them wanted to know what was happening inside.  
Ali was furious; the only good thing to say about this was that he still had most of their stuff.

When he went over to check on that fact, he found it was all gone and a black and red leather mask was in its place. Ali screamed, and fire engulfed his body. Quickly he began to cast summoning spells. He would kill them all and drag Artemis's dead body to Memnon's prison.

Author's Note: The naming is going to be very complex now. I'll try to make it easy, and yes I have my reasons.

To YoginiGal: It's not all supposed to be obvious. However, if you know that Ali is Artemis's father it should be obvious who Gareth is. As far as Sahide, I have yet to post the story that explain that here. I'll get around to it, but it's not essential. As far as the purpose of "Moonwood". It was to introduce who Aramil was, bring in Callahan (although he isn't overly major, I'm probably going to make him more important later on, and he's a nice connecting peice), and make it clear that other things are going on. Thank you for reviewing as often as you have!


	7. Epilouge

The group had run about a mile out of Memnon when they finally stopped. A young man stood before them. He wore red and black leather armor, as well as a red and black cloak. At his side was a longsword. He seemed only to think, and the group found themselves with their equipment.

"I believe you will find yourselves in need of assistance," he said smugly.

Jarlaxle was about to respond when he noticed the look of horror on the new man's face. Everyone spun around and saw something that would make even the hardiest soul whimper. Approaching from Memnon was the largest fire elemental any of them had ever seen.

"If you're willing, we can run. I have a spell that will carry us a large distance," the newcomer said.

Everyone nodded. Smiling he grabbed them all together, and they took a step.

Memmnon was out of sight, although the fire elemental was still slightly visible.

"Not bad," Jarlaxle commented. The man smiled.

"It was quicker than teleporting, and my recall will only transport me," he said. "Anyway, I think you want to travel on foot to your destination. Things aren't ready for you yet." With that he just left.

"Explain," ordered Callahan.

Avariel smiled. "That was the High Priest. We are headed to the Citadel. I am also going to pour a healing potion down Sahide's throat. Get ready to move."

Entreri and Callahan just stood there as Avariel poured the healing potion down Sahide's throat. He was a little groggy.

"Are we leaving?" he asked, seeing the fire elemental in the distance.

Avariel nodded. Sahide looked to Artemis and realized that they probably didn't even know who she was.

"This is Avariel; she's the Thief Lord—kind of an opposite in Aramil where length of title is concerned."

Avariel smiled and bowed low. "Shall we go?"

Everyone nodded.

77

Nova was a bloody mess. Not the shape you wanted to be in when the High Priest contacted you.

"You want WHAT!" she roared. He had just asked her to go back to the Citadel, and what was more, she was going to end up helping an Entreri.

"You heard me," High Priest Cletran said calmly.

"Fine," Nova said quietly. She put her hand to her forehead. "I'll do it."

Cletran smiled and helped her to her feet. It was time that the Maskarrans had a real Assassin Lord.

Author's Note: I would like to thank ArielD for being my Beta reader.

YoginiGal: Where Artemis's abilities are from you'll have to piece together yourself. Just remember that Ali has similiar abilities.


End file.
